This week on HGTV Obsessed, we're Spring cleaning. First Marianne chats with Patric Richardson from The Laundry Guy (discovery+), who gives his best cleaning tips (like using vodka to get out smells—and yes, it works), and helps Marianne with her current laundry crisis. Patric weighs in on some common questions like how to prevent discoloration in whites and fading in darks, dispels some common laundry myths, and explains why the popular TikTok trend of laundry stripping works for some people and not for others. Next, Lisa Bass, host of the Simple Farmhouse Life podcast, shares some home cleaning hacks (including how she keeps her home clean with six kids), her favorite non-toxic cleaning products, and how she cleans and seasons cast iron skillets. Finally, HGTV commerce editor Kayla Kitts shares the most popular cleaning products among HGTV fans this past year.
This week on HGTV Obsessed, we're Spring cleaning. First Marianne chats with Patric Richardson from The Laundry Guy (discovery+), who gives his best cleaning tips (like using vodka to get out smells—and yes, it works), and helps Marianne with her current laundry crisis. Patric weighs in on some common questions like how to prevent discoloration in whites and fading in darks, dispels some common laundry myths, and explains why the popular TikTok trend of laundry stripping works for some people and not for others.
Next, Lisa Bass, host of the Simple Farmhouse Life podcast, shares some home cleaning hacks (including how she keeps her home clean with six kids), her favorite non-toxic cleaning products, and how she cleans and seasons cast iron skillets.
Finally, HGTV commerce editor Kayla Kitts shares the most popular cleaning products among HGTV fans this past year.
Connect with the podcast: https://www.hgtv.com/shows/hgtv-obsessed-podcast
Learn More About The Laundry Guy: https://www.hgtv.com/shows/the-laundry-guy
Follow HGTV on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hgtv/
Follow Patric on Instagram: @LaundryPatric
Learn More About The Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/simple-farmhouse-life/id1494284839
Follow Lisa on Instagram: @FarmhouseOnBoone
Learn More About Kayla Kitts: https://www.hgtv.com/profiles/editorial/kayla-kitts
Start your free trial of discovery+: https://www.discoveryplus.com/hgtvobsessed
Find episode transcript here: https://hgtv-obsessed.simplecast.com/episodes/expert-laundry-advice-with-the-laundry-guy-home-cleaning-hacks-with-lisa-bass
SPEAKER 1: Hi, everyone. And welcome to HGTV Obsessed, the weekly podcast about all things HGTV. I'm Marianne Canada, executive producer. And hgtv.com lifestyle expert. And when I'm not watching HGTV, you can find me making crafty videos for HGTV handmade, gardening, cooking, and as of this week, learning how to make my own stained glass.
SPEAKER 2: Stained glass, how's that going?
SPEAKER 1: I mean, to be honest, it was both easier and harder than I expected.
SPEAKER 2: You blew me away when you sent me that picture. I mean, I was extremely impressed.
SPEAKER 1: I just like to keep you on your toes. But while we're on the subject of staining things, I cannot wait for you all to listen to this episode that is all about cleaning. It's perfect for those of you itching to spring clean and for those of you that maybe need to level up your cleaning game. Today, we have a special guest, the laundry evangelist, Patrick Richardson, star of the Discovery Plus show, The Laundry Guy, to talk about his show and share his must have products in his laundry room. Some may surprise you. There's vodka involved, guys.
Then after that, we are talking to Lisa Bass from the Simple Farmhouse Life podcast. And she is talking all about her tricks for making your own homemade natural cleaners, and she gives us her secrets on how she keeps her house clean with six kids. How can you not listen to a woman who has six kids and manages to not be buried under a pile of laundry? We also have my friend and colleague, Kayla Kitts from hgtv.com. And she's sharing the most popular cleaning products that our listeners bought this year. If you're a clean freak like me, you are in for a treat. So let's get started with my chat with the laundry guy, Patrick Richardson.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1: All right, Patric. Hello. Welcome to the podcast. I'm so excited to have you here.
SPEAKER 3: Crazy excited to be here. Thanks.
SPEAKER 1: Well, I just finished bingeing the first three episodes of your show on Discovery Plus. And actually, before you got on, my whole team, we were talking about how it's just this perfect blend of comforting and practical. And I wouldn't say this to just anyone, but you really know you're sanes.
SPEAKER 3: You got to do something, right? And I love it when people test me because then it's like people find out that I really do know what I'm talking about, which is nice.
SPEAKER 1: Oh, I can't wait to hear it. What are what are some of the craziest stain challenges that people have thrown at you.
SPEAKER 3: It's so funny. People always throw the same ones. I mean, everyone must spill red wine. I don't know what it is, but everyone asks about red wine. Which I'm fine with because it's good for your heart. So everybody asks about red wine. And everybody asks about grass stains. So I feel like their lives are much more exciting than mine. You know what I mean? Maybe I don't drink the wine fast enough. I don't know. I don't spill it. And then grass stains only happen when I fall. I don't know, maybe from drinking too much red wine.
SPEAKER 1: I was about to say there may be a correlation there or maybe the more red wine you drink, the more likely you are to spill it. But I'm with you. I can't remember the last time I got a grass stain. However, my seven-year-old son definitely makes up for that.
SPEAKER 3: I love that you said that because I think it's kid's job to get dirty. I think they're supposed to. And I think if they're not getting dirty, they're just not doing enough. When people ask me, well, my kids get their clothes filthy. I'm like, that's fantastic. That's exactly what they're supposed to do.
SPEAKER 1: No, exactly. There's something really sad about a perfectly pristine set of children's clothes. So, Patric, I have to know. You are known as this laundry evangelist. How exactly does one become a laundry evangelist? Because I see it as more of a necessary evil. So I really want to hear how you developed such an affection and expertise for this chore.
SPEAKER 3: It's twofold. I love clothes. And I've always loved clothes. So I think when you really love clothes and you love fashion and those sorts of things, you become involved in all things, that kind of wrap around it. But the bigger answer is my granny and my mom always took care of my clothes when I was really, really young. And then when I got a little older, I did it with them. And then I wanted to do it myself. So I always say you do laundry for people that you love. And I really, in my mind, have developed this idea, like with your seven-year-old, you wash his clothes because you want him to feel good. You want your children to be happy and you want them to feel good. You want to provide everything you possibly can. And one thing is clean clothes.
I think those two things very strongly in my mind. I love to wash and iron my husband's shirts when I get the chance. He's a t-shirt guy, but when we're going somewhere where I can actually iron his shirts, I like it because it makes him feel good. And he feels like he looks good. That's sort of where it came from. Now, as far as people who see it as a necessary evil, I have a really good thought process on that, or maybe it's not really good but I have one.
When I was a kid, when you watch TV shows or you movies or things, you would see a parent-- it was usually a mom-- who would always complain about having to make dinner for their children. And you now know when you watch HGTV that everybody renovates the kitchen. And we have stars that are cooking stars because they go to restaurants or they cook whatever. And cookbooks are a huge selling category. And there are cooking magazines. There's a cooking channel. There's so many things related to cooking. Well, when I was a kid and my mom put the chicken in the oven, she put it in the oven the exact same way that Rachael Ray or Ina Garten puts it in the oven now. The only thing that changed is somebody decided that, oh, it's fun to cook. It's the exact same process, but cooking became a hobby because somebody said it was a hobby.
So I'm hoping-- cross your fingers, everybody's listening-- that laundry becomes a hobby that we turn it into something that we really sort of enjoy. Because if nothing else, if when you go home, you grab the bottle of red wine and say, I'm going to the laundry room, chances are nobody will follow you.
SPEAKER 1: Certainly no one in my family. They'd be like, mom needs some alone time. Now, I love that. You really are an evangelist. Because I've never really thought about it in those terms as it being something I do out of love for my family and also for myself. It's really an act of self-care. And I have to say, even though it is kind of a chore, I love that feeling when all of your laundry is clean, and every single one of your favorite items of clothing is hanging, and clean, and perfect, and ready for you to wear it.
SPEAKER 3: Right. I mean, at that point, the world is your oyster. You have your entire wardrobe in front of you. You can do anything you want.
SPEAKER 1: It's like laundry is kind of romanticized in this way, which I do feel like growing up in the South. There is a little bit of a romance of laundry. I'm from Tennessee. My grandmother's ironed their sheets. They line dried everything, not because they didn't have a dryer, but because they liked the way it smelled. How do you connect your love and respect for the process of laundry to your childhood being raised in Kentucky?
SPEAKER 3: I think when I was growing up, we appreciated the luxury of line dried sheets. I love line dried sheets. If I can have a clothesline where I live now, you would see the sheets all the time. I probably would change them every single day because I love line dried sheets. It's one of my favorite things. But I think you appreciated that luxury, you know? You're right. Our grandmothers ironed their sheets. And my grandmother used a sad iron, which was the ones that you had to heat on the stove and then iron, which is too many irons in the fire. That's how I heard where that comes from.
She would iron with those. And you think about that. And then if you watch the show, you see the iron that I use, but you can actually control with your phone. And you think, OK, this is easy. I mean, they aren't really hard. This is super easy. But I think that growing up, we just had an appreciation for the things that we owned. And we took care of them. And I certainly didn't grow up with the idea that things were disposable. And so, I think there's a romanticism, but I think there's also just a practicality that we took care of things that were important to us.
When you live in a small town-- I don't know where a lot of people grow up, but the town that I lived in wasn't very big. So there weren't a lot of options to purchase things. So when you bought things, you took care of them. And I think that there's a respect for that. And it honors a lot of different things. It honors the item but it honors you because you're respecting your things. And it's also good for the earth because we're not throwing things away. So I think that I grew up with that mindset and it just sort of continued.
SPEAKER 1: Oh my gosh. You're making me want to learn how to darn a sock or something. I feel like this is opening a new world of possibilities. So I do want to talk a little bit about your show on Discovery Plus, The Laundry Guy because it has such a focus on restoring pieces or heirlooms, and giving them new life. You take what feels, again, like an everyday chore and you give it such depth and meaning. Do you have a favorite moment from the show?
SPEAKER 3: It's like picking your favorite kid. It's super funny because I love those reveals because I just want every single episode. I want that so much for that person. But probably my favorite moment in the show, I'm going to give you two. I can only get as far as two. One was Snoopy because I had a Snoopy when I was a kid. And it brought so many memories of my childhood back. And James who owned the Snoopy was just such a wonderful guy. And I really loved that.
But I'm going to have to give my favorite moment to, it was actually episode three, Angel's Dress. She said something to me. And it's actually in the show. And it was the reason it's my favorite. It isn't actually my favorite to clean. But she said, I feel like I've really let her down. Her mom passed away when she was 6. And this dress had these stains on it. And she said, I feel like I really let her down. And it's my favorite moment because it's so honest and it's so genuine. And I knew the dress was going to come clean because I'd already talked through it with her. And so I sort of knew what was wrong with it and I knew I was going to be able to get it out. And that particular moment when I knew that I was going to get that clean, I was so excited.
I think I rushed through that one because I just couldn't wait to show it to her. It's my favorite sort of reveal because I knew how much it meant. When somebody says I feel like I've let my mother down and she died when I was six, come on.
SPEAKER 1: It's so sweet. It's magic. You see it in their faces when you do reveal the finished product. So on the show, did you have any major oh no moments, where you're like ah? I'm thinking about that silk boxing jacket. I was like, oh, no. He's done it now.
SPEAKER 3: Well, it's funny because that's totally real. I'm going to tell you for anybody who's like, I just made that up. No, they did not make that up. It is totally real. When I said I have to put this in water right now, I was actually talking to the camera guys sort of in the we have to stop. I have to-- and our camera guy was so awesome he was able to catch it because-- I mean, can you imagine if they were like, would you recreate that? No, I will not. So it was incredible because I was a nervous wreck. And I was terrified when I saw that happen.
I've never had that happen ever in my life with a stain remover like that. And my parents, when they both watched, they were both, we could tell. And my partner, they were like, we could tell you were in next world. I think I look panicked, but oh my gosh, I was a wreck. So that was probably the scariest. That was one of the scariest moments of my life.
SPEAKER 1: You could really see it in that moment. And for anyone who hasn't seen the show yet, first of all, you should go watch it. It's so great. But you put stain remover on this beautiful heirloom silk boxing jacket, and it started immediately to make the colors bleed. And I do. I love that moment that you were like, I don't care about this TV show. I'm going to go ahead and save this jacket so I don't ruin this woman's heirloom jacket from her father who had passed away.
SPEAKER 3: And it's really funny. I give so much credit to all the people that were doing the show, that were making the show, that they caught it because I'm glad it's in there. Because the producer actually said, are you OK? And I was like, absolutely, that's what happens. If somebody at home has this happen, I want them to know what to do. And it's funny because even when I watch it now-- it was odd, of course. I'm like-- obviously I'm watching it, right? And I knew it was coming. And it's like when you've watched psycho more than once, you know there's that moment, and your heart starts racing because it's coming. That's how I feel about that.
SPEAKER 1: Any moment, that shower curtain is going to be whipped open.
SPEAKER 3: That's how I felt when I knew. When I'm watching myself wash that jacket, all I could do is be like, oh.
SPEAKER 1: You knew what to do. And I think that is great takeaway for someone who is cleaning something delicate or not sure how a fabric is going to respond. So I found that really valuable. Patric, aside from the show, in all of your years working with textiles, fabrics, hosting laundry camps, which I want to talk about that, I have to know because this is immediately where my mind goes, what is your biggest or grossest laundry challenge that you've had to tackle?
SPEAKER 3: Well, the biggest one actually is in the show, believe it or not. It's that wedding dress covered in soot. What you don't know-- if you've never worked with soot-- is it actually comes off. If we'd had to wash that in a kitchen sink, we would have constantly been wiping down like the countertops and every other surface because the soot keeps coming off. Even when you've washed it the first time and you're taking it out to scrub it, the soot will still come off on you. Because of the size-- if you have a little soot spot on your shirt, you can just scrub it. But imagine the size of a wedding dress. It's huge. So that was actually one of the biggest challenges I've ever had ever in my life.
Grossest? I'm torn. I'm going to give you two. One was a customer had a dog get ill. And the dog had-- we'll say a gastrointestinal issue all over her dry cleaning. So the dog was in the back seat with her dry cleaning. And she called the dry cleaner and they were like, no. And she called me. And I said, OK, here's what we're going to do. And she's just like a mess. It's a customer. It's also a friend. It's somebody I've known for years. And I was like, I'll just be over. I'll be over as soon as I can. We'll work on it. And that was pretty gross because it wasn't a pleasant thing. And then there was also a number of pieces. So it wasn't one thing. And then, of course, we had to deal with the car.
SPEAKER 1: Oh God.
SPEAKER 3: That was pretty gross. I had a customer who cut their hand. They end up having stitches. But everything was covered in blood. And I don't really love the sight of blood. So that's probably the thing that freaked me out the most because I wouldn't actually touch it. I talked her through it. And I was there with her. But I was like, I won't touch it. I'm sorry. I will once you do the first thing, but it just weirded me out. I don't know what it was. It's like biohazard, right?
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, that's what I was about to say. That feels fair.
SPEAKER 3: That creeped me. For some reason, the dog issue, I was like, put on gloves and deal with it. But there was something about I don't know. I just have a thing about blood. And so, that was probably the one. And it was a lot. It looked like a crime scene. It looked like a different channel on Discovery Plus.
SPEAKER 1: Maybe something from ID.
SPEAKER 3: Exactly. That's what it was. So those are the two. But honestly, one of the hardest ones ever was the wedding dress. And I wouldn't tell her that at the time because when you're seeing her and she's like, my dress was in a fire 15 years ago. And I'm like, I'll take care of this. In your mind, I'm going, oh my God. What am I doing?
SPEAKER 1: Well, I on that episode was a little like, there's no way. I clearly just didn't try hard enough because the way you went at that dress with that brush, I was like, he is going to get this. He's going to get this stain out. All right, Patric, I have to be self-serving. I've got a laundry expert here. And I have an actual current laundry crisis. We have an adorable one-year-old golden doodle puppy. And she got a hold of a Sharpie and shoot it up on my cream linen duvet cover.
And I have tried treating it. I have washed it. It doesn't really seem to be going anywhere. Is all hope lost, or can I save this duvet cover?
SPEAKER 3: No, it's the easiest thing in the world. Well, I shouldn't say it's the easiest thing in the world, because you've already washed it. OK, then sorry. It's easy now. It's going to be easy once you know what to use. You need a really specific product, but it is all natural. So it is safe around your dog and it's safe for your children. There's a stain remover called Amodex. It's from a women-owned company in Connecticut. So it's a great company. And that's the only product they make. They
Literally make one thing, and it is Amodex. And if you go in the Sharpie website, they actually even suggest Amodex. But it's all natural. You're going to put an old towel, something you're willing to let go of because you don't want to have to treat it, put it on the inside, and then put the Amodex on top. And you may have to repeat it a couple of times, but it'll come out. I've actually known of someone who got a Sharpie on their duvet, and it came out. So it will come out, but you may have to repeat it a couple of times because I'm imagining chewing a Sharpie releases a lot more ink than just getting a Sharpie on your duvet. So you may have to repeat it a couple of times, but I think you'll be OK.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, it was several kind of puddles. Plus, my dog is white, so she also got it on her. But we got it out of the dog. It's easier than we got it out of the duvet cover. I'm going to try that out ASAP, and I will report back. And also, if you guys are looking for that product, we will make sure to put it in the show notes at hgtv.com/podcast.
I mentioned your laundry camps earlier. I cannot wrap my head around the idea of going to a laundry camp. What can someone expect to learn at one of these?
SPEAKER 3: So when you come to camp, you will learn everything you need to know about doing your laundry from beginning to end. So you'll know about how to sort your clothes, how to wash your clothes, how to dry them, how to iron, and then how to take out stains. And it's funny. I know stains should really be at the beginning, but I have to move it to the end because it's the thing everybody wants to know. So if I tell him first, I'm afraid they'll tune out. And it's fun.
I started it at these clean clothes and dirty Martinis, but I had to give up the Martinis pretty quickly because people couldn't remember the laundry tips. It's 15 people. So the 15 people all come together. And what's great is often, they'll have stained questions that prompt other things, which I love. It's like when you watch the show, you think, oh, you know what? I've never thought about washing my wedding dress. It's just in a box somewhere. It's sort of like that but in camp.
SPEAKER 1: I love it. It's so funny you brought up Martinis because I feel like vodka makes an appearance on your show in every episode. And you're not making Martinis. You're using it to clean. I'd love to hear a little bit more about that and some of your other must haves in your laundry arsenal.
SPEAKER 3: Vodka is definitely a must have. Vodka will remove the odor from anything. And it's very antibacterial. It's great because if you went to a restaurant and you leave smelling like the food or you're an extra smoker, you can just spray your clothes with vodka and you don't have to rewash them. It's a trick actually costume companies all use, but vodka is also just as a side note, it is so antiseptic and antibacterial. It's great to spray your cutting boards.
But I think that you should also have a bottle of half white vinegar so 50 white vinegar, 50 water. That's my stain remover that I use on everything. It's my number one most used product. A horse hairbrush, and it has to be a horse hairbrush because it is soft enough that when you get it wet, you can still scrub with it. And then soap flakes and a stain remover. Those are the things I think you need.
SPEAKER 1: So we talked earlier about loving the smell of line dried linens. I am honestly not a fan of scented detergents. In fact, I will rewash things if I get them, if I buy some clothes on eBay and they come smelling like scented detergent. I'll rewash them. Do you have some favorite products that just purely just smell wonderful to you that you like to use?
SPEAKER 3: I actually like to put essential oils on a wool ball. So I do it in the dryer. I love to scent my sheets with peppermint. I sleep so well when I set my sheets with peppermint. So you just put about 5 or 10 drops on a wool ball, toss it in the dryer, and it'll send your laundry. But if you like bergamot, or chamomile, or lavender, whatever, that's where I like to pick up the scent. I prefer that everything else stay unscented. There is a product I really do love. There's a perfume brand named Le Labo.
SPEAKER 1: Oh, I wear it.
SPEAKER 3: Oh, do you wear Le Labo? OK, you can actually get Le Labo Santal 33 as a detergent.
SPEAKER 1: What? So that is my signature scent. I'm wearing it right now even though I'm all by myself.
SPEAKER 3: You can actually buy that as a detergent. And I like to use it on my shirts.
SPEAKER 1: Yes.
SPEAKER 3: I mean, talk about decadence. Washing your shirts in perfume, it's decadent.
SPEAKER 1: It is. I mean, that's next level. OK, I could get on board with that. And I'm definitely going to look into the wool dryer balls with the essential oils because that just sounds refreshing and not this cloying overwhelming scent.
SPEAKER 3: Yeah, it's a stronger as subtle as you want. I mean, if you want it stronger, you just put more oil on. And usually, I use five drops. And my sheets, they have a peppermint kick to them. But depending if you wanted to use lavender or something, maybe you'd use a little more. And if you wanted, you could change by the seasons. You could use like cedar in the winter on your flannel sheets. Cedar and lavender would be heaven to sleep on. But then you could use lemongrass on your workout wear to give you that little oomph like chamomile on your children's clothes. I mean, you can sort of play with it.
SPEAKER 1: I love it. I love the idea of customizing the scent of your laundry for the person and for the activity. So clearly, you have so many tips and tricks up your sleeve. I thought we would go really back to basics. And ask you how do you keep your whites white and your darks dark?
SPEAKER 3: Well, it's twofold. To keep the color in both of them, I use the express cycle because abrasion is the number one most deadly thing. The express cycle, because we want to minimize the abrasion as much as possible. And we want to use warm water with that because it activates our detergent. Everything comes clean. So the color is true. It isn't dingy because you're white isn't dingy, because the water didn't rinse out. And to keep your whites white, everybody thinks bleach. Well, here's a fact that no one ever realizes.
Natural white is an ecru color. If you think of a white sheet or you think of white cot, it's kind of a warm white. And to get that gorgeous, bright white, that's called optic white. And it's a dye. So when you use bleach, you actually bleach that out and take that color away. So if you want to keep your whites, that gorgeous, optic white, use oxygen bleach because oxygen bleach will remove the proteins. It will remove the dirt. It'll move the oil, but it won't lift the color. And it'll keep that intense white. If you have that pair of black, blue jeans or black jeans and you want them to stay super black, before you ever wear them, soak them in a basin of hot water overnight with a 1/4 cup of salt. And the color will stay forever.
SPEAKER 1: Hot water. Wow. I had no idea. And I had never thought about that about whites, but that makes sense because sometimes when you use bleach, it will yellow your whites. But it really is just removing the white dye.
SPEAKER 3: Right. It's going back to its original color. And you are much too young to know this. I use blue shampoo on my hair to keep it white, to keep the gray white. And that is the same thing. I mean, it's that blue dye.
SPEAKER 1: Well, you're sweet to call me young. I have another question for you. This actually came up from a few people when I said I was interviewing you. Should we actually be following the care instructions on the tags of our clothes? How important is that?
SPEAKER 3: I'm so glad you asked this. I have the greatest tip in the whole world for this. So when you have something that you love or you want to buy something at the store, and the tag says like, hand wash cold, dry flat, dry clean only, whatever, what you do is you take it in the kitchen and you lay it out on the counter. And you smooth it out and get it really nice and smooth and pretty, reach into the junk drawer, pull out the scissors, and then just cut that tag out. And then it doesn't say that anymore. And then you can take care of it just by washing it.
SPEAKER 1: So really it matters more what the material is.
SPEAKER 3: What the material is and you know what to do. I mean, the thing is it's like anything else, you know what to do. You just have to believe, I guess the laundry evangelist says. But you just have to believe.
SPEAKER 1: This is like laundry myth busting. So that's one myth you have debunked. What are some other common laundry misconceptions?
SPEAKER 3: Cold water. People like to use cold water to wash their clothes. They think that's better. It isn't because it doesn't actually activate the detergent or the soap that you use. And if you wash in cold, you can even test this out because you can throw something you've washed back in the washer on warm. And it will suds because the detergent is still in there. And that's really hard on the fabric.
Another myth is these really long cycles. Your clothes are going to be just as clean in 30 minutes as they are in two hours. So there's no reason to use that super long cycle. It's bad for your clothes. It's bad for the environment. And it just takes a long time. I love laundry, but I don't want it to take three days. That's another big myth.
And I think the third one is just that certain things are off limits because they're hard to care for. I tell people like I never get to wear my tuxedo especially in the past year, right? So I recently was going to a friend's house. And we were going to sit outside. And it's finally time to go over there. And I put my tuxedo jacket on over a t-shirt because when you know how to care for your clothes, nothing's off limits.
SPEAKER 1: Oh, I love that. I feel like that could be your motto. And finally with Earth Day coming up on April 22nd, laundry obviously utilizes a ton of resources. What are some ways we can be more planet contrasts while doing our laundry? I mean, the express cycle I think is a great tip.
SPEAKER 3: The express cycle is a great tip. Another tip is you don't have to wash something just because you had it on. I mean, this shirt, I'm sitting here talking to you. What am I doing to get this shirt dirty? I can easily take the shirt home, take it off, hang it up, and wear it again. If I stop at a restaurant on the way home, I can just give it a little vodka spreads.
A lot of times we wash things because they're wrinkle. They're not dirty. Just give them a steam out. That's one. That's two-fold. There's two advantages to that. It makes your clothes lasts longer because we use a ton of water to manufacture a pair of blue jeans, for example. And the truth is, I wear my jeans about 10 times before I wash them. They're just not that dirty. So one thing is wash your clothes less. It helps because it's better for the laundry. And it also makes your clothes last longer.
Another thing is don't use ingredients that you can't pronounce. When I look at soap or when I look at detergent, if I can't pronounce the ingredients, I don't use it because I don't put anything on my clothes or on my body that I wouldn't put in my body. So I only use ingredients that are food safe. Another part of that is when you start taking care of your clothes, you need to buy less because your clothes last longer. You enjoy them so you don't need as many. Those are big things. Lesser things are hang on the clothes line. We've already talked about how great that is. And I guess my last one would be even just all of these processes will make everything safer and greener, but I think when you just adept, when you put it in your mind, I'm going to be a little more earth-friendly, you just start using those processes. And you start going to cotton, and linen, and silk, and less man-made fibers.
SPEAKER 1: Yes, I agree completely. I'm tall so I almost never dry any of my clothes because I just don't want to risk that they shrink. And they really do. They hold up so much longer. All of that lint in your dryer is coming from your clothing.
SPEAKER 3: Right. I always say it's just your clothes dying.
SPEAKER 1: It's so true. Oh, my goodness. Patrick, you are clearly such a fountain of knowledge. But we cannot let you leave today without taking on one of our favorite segments, Defend The Trend.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1: OK, Patric. I am dying to know your opinion about a super popular viral laundry trend that has been circulating for a while. Now that I've talked to you for a little bit, I have a feeling where you'll land on this. Of course, we're talking about laundry stripping. It's all over TikTok, YouTube, Instagram. Everyone is soaking their clothing, super high heat, soaking it for days in a blend of Borax, baking soda, and detergent. And it seems like a lot of stuff, of gunk is coming off of the clothing. So is this actually effective, or is it just kind of like grossly entertaining? And is it good for your clothes?
SPEAKER 3: The Borax and the baking soda, they're a little hard on your clothes but they're not bad. But basically what you are doing, when you laundry strip, is you are stripping out all the garbage you put on there. So you have built up detergent, and fabric softener, and dryer sheets, and all those things on your clothes. And when you laundry strip, you're just taking all of that stuff back off. So my take on laundry stripping is if you don't use all that stuff, then you don't have to take it back off. I actually tried it.
When I first saw it on TikTok, I wanted to try it just to see. Because I've also wondered if it was fake, if it was real or if it was fake. I threw some of my towels in the bathtub, and added Borax and baking soda. Both ingredients I have in my house because they're both natural and some soap, and nothing happened. Well, nothing happened because I didn't have anything in there. So if I had a child, I would probably-- or if I had anyone in my house who had sensitivities, I would strip their clothes to get all that stuff off, but then I would just never put it back.
So does it work? Yes. But most people who do it, then turn around, and use the exact same products again. So then it's a self-fulfilling thing. I mean, you have to keep doing it because it's like if you didn't take your makeup off for a week, and then you did this thing and all your makeup came off at once, well, yeah, because you kept putting makeup on. It's like you'd look like Baby Jane by the end of the week. And then you'd take it all off, right? But if you use things that are clean and you keep things going, then you'd never have to do it.
SPEAKER 1: I love that. That makes me feel better because I did try stripping my towels and nothing happened. But now, I'm learning it's because I use a gentle detergent. I don't use dryer sheets, or fabric softener, or anything like that. So they were already clean. Well, Patrick, thank you so much for joining us today. Before we let you go, can you tell everyone where they can find you on social media and where we can watch your show, The Laundry Guy?
SPEAKER 3: I can tell you that you can watch my show The Laundry Guy on Discovery Plus. And the episodes come out on Wednesdays. And it's great. If you haven't watched it, why? What are you waiting for? And you can find me on social media. Facebook is the laundry evangelist, but you can find me on Instagram and Twitter at Laundry Patric. And its Laundry P-A-T-R-I-C. So it's Laundry Patric but with no K.
SPEAKER 1: Patric no K. Well, I hope you come back sometime. The laundry never stops, if I've learned anything. So I have a feeling we will have even more to talk about.
SPEAKER 3: I'm always willing to talk about laundry.
SPEAKER 1: Thanks so much, Patric.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1: So I talked a little bit about how we tested laundry stripping on HGTV Handmade. And some people did have results where it seemed like something was happening, but then all the commenters came for us and said we were just stripping the dye out of clothes. So after talking to Patric about it and hearing his thoughts, I do think it's a good idea maybe for white sheets and towels or like you said, if you have someone who is maybe having a sensitivity to some laundry detergent, to get all the bad stuff out. It is satisfying to see all that nastiness come out of your things.
And I know our next guest will agree. Next up, I have a chat with the host of The Simple Farmhouse live podcast, Lisa Bass on all things cleaning from bathrooms to cast iron skillet. And her favorite non-toxic products. Here's my conversation with Lisa Bass.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1: Lisa, thank you so much for joining us on HGTV Obsessed.
SPEAKER 4: Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm excited to be on.
SPEAKER 1: Well, I'm such a big fan of yours. I'm such a fan of your podcast as well as your blog. But for those who may be new to you, can you just tell us a little bit about your podcast and what you do?
SPEAKER 4: Yeah, I started my podcast a little bit over a year ago as an extension of my blog and my YouTube channel where I share my tagline is food from scratch now that you're living in a handmade home. So I tried to figure out how I could bring that into the audio space, which I kicked around the idea for a really long time because it seems like how can I do something that I usually share so visually through audio. But it actually works surprisingly well. And people like it because they can just put their phone in their pocket with their headphones and work on laundry or dishes or whatever. So I try to share home said stuff, and what I'm cooking, and things like that.
SPEAKER 1: Yes, and you've got such a beautiful home. It's such a gorgeous farmhouse. So as you know, this is our cleaning episode. And I have to ask, I know you have six kids. I just have two so I can't imagine tripling the mess that they make. So how do you keep the house clean with so many kids running around?
SPEAKER 4: So I have several secrets. One is that it's probably not as clean as your house, just in general. This was something that it happens over the years. When I had two kids, I was so particular and tidy. And every day I made the bed, and I had the pillows on the couch, and just everything was perfect. And that's definitely not the case anymore. It's slowly over the years just been something I've had to accept and be OK with. And then also I have older kids too. So my three oldest are 12, 10, and 8. So they can help.
And then I've also been really into decluttering at least the past five years, I'd say. And that just helps so much. Because when you have to-- in your kids rooms for example, especially the younger ones who aren't so good at keeping them tidy themselves-- you have to clean up all around it just to clean it. So to sweep the floor, you have to get all the clutter up. And it just makes it so much more difficult whereas whenever you have less things, at least for the younger kids, I am very constantly going through with the trash bag. Then you can just run in there and sweep really quick, and it's not a huge ordeal.
SPEAKER 1: Yes, unless like my seven-year-old. They are obsessed with LEGOs.
SPEAKER 4: We got that too. Yeah, I know. That's the worst. It's true. That is like the one thing we have, which means it's like the 100 things we have. But at least, it's one category so you can just clean it up pretty easily.
SPEAKER 1: That's true. It can just all go into a bed.
SPEAKER 4: Yeah, because all my little kids are boys. I had two girls and then four boys, so, yeah. There's lots of LEGOs.
SPEAKER 1: So many. But you got to love it. It's at least creative. And one toy can be so many different things. He has built the entire cast of the movie Cars out of LEGOs. And they're all over my dining room table right now.
SPEAKER 4: That's awesome. So this is your seven-year-old?
SPEAKER 1: Yes. Yeah, I have a seven-year-old boy and then an 11-year-old girl.
SPEAKER 4: OK.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I really hear you especially on older kids being able to help out. My daughter can do her own laundry now.
SPEAKER 4: Right. Yeah. 11-year-old girl, that's helpful.
SPEAKER 1: Yes, she really is. She's so great.
SPEAKER 4: Like it's when they're finally actually helpful and not just-- like my eight-year-old boy, it's still like I need to at least make you think you're helping, but not that.
SPEAKER 1: Even if you have to go behind him and redo it.
SPEAKER 4: Pretty much.
SPEAKER 1: Exactly. So, Lisa, you have so many helpful cleaning tips on your blog. And I'd love to talk a little bit about bathrooms. I know you have a recipe for a non-toxic bath scrub that you recommend to your readers. Can you tell us a little bit more about how it works, how you make it? And just real talk, does it really get the grit out?
SPEAKER 4: Yes. So I need to revisit that recipe. But the thing that I like the most in any homemade cleaning product is lemon essential oil because it gets any white. If it sits on it, if there's any grime or grease, it cuts in almost like an unnatural product would do. So that you can just wipe it away. And then the baking soda allows a little bit of a gritty. You can really get in there, especially if you're using a one of those microfiber. Yeah, so it works really well. If you have something that's really stuck on, it's helpful to leave it sit there for a minute, and then come and wipe it away with some hot water.
SPEAKER 1: Oh, that's so great. And I'm sure the lemon essential oil smells amazing too, which is a nice added benefit.
SPEAKER 4: Yes. Definitely. It does. I use the lemon essential oil even just straight on my kitchen sink. It's white. It's a big white farmhouse sink and it gets really dirty. So I just will put it on there, spread it all out with a cloth just straight, let it sit, and then come wipe it all away. And it looks amazing.
SPEAKER 1: Yes, we have one of those big white farmhouse sinks as well, and I was actually surprised how often it really does have to be cleaned up.
SPEAKER 4: Yeah.
SPEAKER 1: I think in my head I thought it would be easier to maintain than stainless, but I mean, it's white.
SPEAKER 4: Yeah. Ours is also an antique. So it doesn't get completely white no matter what you do, which maybe sort of helps the imperfections to not stand out as much.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah. I mean, also, I think there's something to be said for just letting go a little bit like accepting the reality of your life and not being so hard on yourself and expecting perfection.
SPEAKER 4: Right. Oh, yeah. Definitely. It's something I've been much better about the last couple of years.
SPEAKER 1: Well, I would say have to. So we talked a little bit about laundry. And you make your own homemade laundry soap, which I think is such a clever idea. I have a laundry room. And I am so type-a that it really bugs me. I find the big plastic jug of laundry soap to be so unattractive. And I love the idea of a beautiful canister of laundry soap. So can you tell us a little bit more about that? Is it hard? Is it expensive? Is it a cost-saving thing? And how well does it work? Because, again, six kids, like you're dealing with some stains.
SPEAKER 4: The homemade detergent is not hard to make and it actually is really cheap. So if your budget's your biggest concern, it's the cheapest way to go. It's way cheaper than an off-brand, free and clear detergent. But then I also like OxiClean too. If nothing else works, OxiClean always does.
SPEAKER 1: It really is. It's like a miracle, right?
SPEAKER 4: It really is.
SPEAKER 1: We're not sponsored, but call me, OxiClean.
SPEAKER 4: Yeah. Exactly. It's the ugliest bottle too. If you're worried about that, it's not great. It's blue and yellow, but it just works so well.
SPEAKER 1: It's so true. It's so true. All right. I would love to move into the kitchen. I saw that on your blog, you have some tips for seasoning a cast iron skillet. So I'm based in the South and cast iron skillets are practically a religion here. But I find that people do. They get very scared of them, like they're very scared of how to clean them. They're always worried they're going to ruin them. So can you give a few tips about how to clean cast iron? And tell us a little bit more about seasoning them?
SPEAKER 4: Definitely. Yeah. I find the same. I get people all the time who just cannot get the hang of cast iron. They don't believe me that it's amazing. It's a religion for me too. I don't know how people cook with these plastic spatulas and just little nonstick. I'm like, no, you need the nice, heavy, stainless steel spatula plus the cast iron. I don't even know how you can sear something. I don't know. It just it toasts things so nicely. It makes everything better.
But you first need to get a good seasoning on it which just involves oil and heat. You want to wipe the oil off as well as you possibly can. You don't want any dripping oil. Some people even put it upside down in the oven and then just put it in the oven for a couple of hours. Some people say high temp, some say lower temp. Honestly, I just use coconut oil. And I haven't reseasoned any of my skillets again. I only seasoned them in the beginning. And with constant use and proper care, they don't need to be reseasoned. I always say there's two things in the kitchen that get better with age, sourdough and cast iron.
SPEAKER 1: I'm with you. Cast iron, it is truly a kitchen staple. And once you master it, which really, like you said, is not as complicated as it seems, you can use it for everything from cobblers to fried chicken. I mean, it's a workhorse.
SPEAKER 4: Yeah, everything. I use it for chicken pot pie, things that go in the oven, things that cook on top of the stove. The key is never to put it away wet ever. I don't put mine away at all. I feel like if it's on top of the stove and you use it constantly, that's where it gets better and it won't rust.
SPEAKER 1: I like that tip to just leave it on the stove too because they're really beautiful.
SPEAKER 4: Right. Yeah.
SPEAKER 1: So, Lisa, is there anything-- before we let you go-- that you would recommend to our listeners? If they were wanting to put together a minimalist natural cleaning kit, what are just a few products that you would recommend people grab just to have on hand if they want to try to clean with some less toxic cleaning options?
SPEAKER 4: Yeah. Lemon essential oil, obviously. Vinegar is a good one. We'll use that on our wood floors. A little bit of vinegar and some water and a steam cleaner. Baking soda is a staple salt. It actually works really well to get gritty. So I actually recently made one to get my cutting board sanitized. I used salt in it to scrub. I use a few different essential oils like tea tree oil and lemon. And then rubbed it in and allowed it to sit. And then I wash it away. So salt is a good one for that gritty factor.
SPEAKER 1: Well, I think another one that I saw come up regularly that is one of my favorite products is castile soap like Dr. Bronner's.
SPEAKER 4: Yes, you're right. Yes, exactly. Yeah, I use that all the time too. I use it for dishes. I add a little bit of lemon essential oil and water into a foaming hand dispenser. Yeah, and that's what I use for all my dishes because we don't have a dishwasher we just hand wash it all.
SPEAKER 1: I just want to point out that you have six kids and no dishwasher. You are a Saint.
SPEAKER 4: No, I actually find it easier. I would not do it. I'm not doing it to be a martyr. It's just that it's after you eat, I find that if you don't have the dishwasher full, then you always need the thing. So we just do a rinse and repeat because we make three meals here a day. And we just use them over and over again. So I'm not trying to be cool with my new dishwasher. Yeah, that castile soap works so well with a little bit of lemon to do that.
SPEAKER 1: Yes. Especially once, in the past year, we were home so much. And obviously washing our hands more than ever. And my kids love foaming soap, but they will just make like a mountain of foaming soap in their hands. And we were going through it so much. And so, I started making it ourselves. And we had grapefruit essential oils.
SPEAKER 4: Yeah, any citrus. I feel like orange or grapefruit. Yeah.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I love the smell of citrus. And now that's exclusively what we use. And it's so easy. My daughter even knows how to make it herself, like she knows the ratios. So we'll put some info about making your own DIY foaming hand soap in the show notes. Well, Lisa, I just so appreciate you taking the time from your very busy day to chat with us for our cleaning episode. And I would really love to have you back. You've got, again, so much great information and tips on your podcast and on your blog. Can you just tell everyone again where they can find you to follow more of your work?
SPEAKER 4: Yes. So here on the podcast, you can search Simple Farmhouse Life. That's my podcast. And then I'm on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook as Farmhouse on Boone. And then my blog is farmhouseonboone.com. So Farmhouse on Boone everywhere is where you can mostly find me. I show up the most regularly on YouTube with videos. So twice a week.
SPEAKER 1: Fantastic. Well, we will put all of that info in the show notes. I so appreciate it. And I hope to talk to you again soon.
SPEAKER 4: Thank you so much.
SPEAKER 1: Thank you.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1: I mean, I think I wrote down every product she mentioned. I basically want to Marie Kondo my cleaning closet, really strip it back, and have only like one, cute, little caddy of cleaning products. But then I talked to hgtv.com commerce editor, Kayla Kitts about all of the cleaning products and tools that are most popular with HGTV fans. And now, my Amazon cart, it's full. Let's find out what HGTV fans are obsessed with when it comes to their cleaning. Here's my chat with Kayla.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1: Kayla thank you so much for joining us today. Everybody, we have a special HGTV to the rescue today. We are changing it up a little bit in honor of our very first ever cleaning episode. I'm so excited to have my colleague and friend, Kayla Kitts on today to talk about our audience's favorite cleaning products and tools. Kayla is the managing editor of our commerce team. And every time I talk to her team, I swear, I walk away with a list of must buys. So, Kayla, what are some of the cleaning products that HGTV fans are snapping up?
SPEAKER 5: So, obviously, last year was a little bit different. And everyone became super focused not just on personal hygiene but on keeping their homes clean and their personal items, like cell phones, and AirPods, and everything. So we really first saw products that keep your floor clean, like robot vacuums, handheld vacuums for your car. Spray mops were super popular. And then we saw products that make cleaning even easier and more efficient for people that were juggling a lot last year with remote learning and working from home.
So one of our absolute favorite editor products is the machine washable ruggable rug. So I actually have three of them in my house. One in every high traffic area. And it makes such a huge difference to toss your rug in the washer and know that it's clean. And it's just this super easy way to do a quick clean when you need to. And then we saw really interesting cleaning gadgets like oscillating toothbrush style scrub brushes to get into the crevices of your bathroom fixtures and pet hair furniture brushes. So people were really concerned about getting every nook and cranny clean, and how can they get those places clean without getting on their hands and knees. So those are a few of the big house cleaning items that we saw becoming really popular.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I think the combination of a pandemic plus literally being in your home 24/7 really made you investigate all of those little corners that you might otherwise ignore.
SPEAKER 5: Yeah, and also just pet hair centric cleaning products like the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser was a huge hit for our readers. I love mine. But it is able to-- you can use it on their upholstery, but you can also keep it. I do by my cat's litter box to get up all this stray litter that ends up around the house. I mean, we were all spending quality time with our pets. So it was very pet centric cleaning products were big.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, that makes total sense. And I have to say, I never thought I would be someone who would want and who would put on my wish list a vacuum for my car, but I have become that person now.
SPEAKER 5: Right. Yeah, especially when you're in it less than normal maybe. It's like, OK, I at least need it to be moderately clean.
SPEAKER 1: Yes. And we took a road trip for spring break. In the past, we would have flown, but we drove down to one of my family's homes. And suddenly, we are. We're spending so much more time in the car when we are in it. It's usually for a few hours.
SPEAKER 5: Right. A couple of other things that we saw were devices that keep your tech clean. I think we're all aware of how disgusting our cell phones are. And especially when we take them with us to places they shouldn't go like the bathroom. And so, UV sanitizing devices like the phone soap became really big. If you don't know what it is, it's basically one of these devices that you put your phone in and it removes all of the super gross stuff from it, like 99.99% of bacteria. And then it charges it at the same time. And it's a safe way to get everything clean. So that was another really big thing that we saw, which is not shocking at all.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I can only imagine how filthy my phone is. Now, I'm itching to go clean it.
SPEAKER 5: Right.
SPEAKER 1: Kayla, this is so fun. Do you have any other things that we should add to our wish list?
SPEAKER 5: While most of us still gravitated towards the heavy duty disinfectant wipes and sprays last year, we really did see a surge in people wanting to know what eco-friendly and natural cleaning products are the best that would still get the job done without feeling like you're not exactly getting things clean but keeping your family and pet safe. So a lot of those came with cleaning subscriptions like Grove Collaborative was really popular and Cleancult. And people shopped a lot of vinegar. People really wanted to load up on vinegar to make their own natural cleaning solutions at home with essential oils. So we saw a big surge in that stuff too.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I think this is officially vinegar has been brought up in every segment of this episode.
SPEAKER 5: Yeah. Good. I love it.
SPEAKER 1: It's the cleaning MVP. And it is true. Even though, in some ways, I think people were like, no, I want the hard stuff, like I want to know that I am destroying every germ in my house. Now, I have a shopping list a mile long, if you missed something that Kayla suggested, have no fear. We're going to put all of these products in the show notes at hgtv.com/podcast. Kayla, I hope you'll come back and talk to us again.
SPEAKER 5: Anytime.
SPEAKER 1: Maybe next payday. And so we can just like spend more money because you always have the best tips.
SPEAKER 5: Sounds good. Thanks.
SPEAKER 1: All right, bye.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1: I've seen those machine washable rugs everywhere. And I am officially intrigued. I mean, I've got two kids. I've got two dogs. It is spring. There's mud being tracked into this house on the daily. I want to know Brad, though, you've got like what, at least 17 children?
SPEAKER 2: 18, I think.
SPEAKER 1: 18 kids?
SPEAKER 2: I think it's the count now.
SPEAKER 1: Do you and your wife divide and conquer when it comes to the household cleaning?
SPEAKER 2: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I don't want her to not feel like everything's on her. But I will tell you, I am not allowed to touch the laundry.
SPEAKER 1: Yeah, my husband's not allowed to wash my laundry either. He would.
SPEAKER 2: I would. I'd be more than happy to, but she won't allow me to put it in the washing machine. I can't touch it. I can't fold it. So I just do other stuff. Mostly, I just give the 18 kids bath. It's pretty much all I do.
SPEAKER 1: So many baths. I mean, I feel like we should let it be known for the record you have three children.
SPEAKER 2: I have three kids.
SPEAKER 1: It sometimes feels like 18.
SPEAKER 2: It does.
SPEAKER 1: My husband actually does the lion's share of the household cleaning, I will say. And now, I mean, my kids are getting older. They help out, kind of. I'm more of like the meal planner. I do a lot of the organizing. I make sure the kids have clothes that fit them and are in-season, so no one's coming out in pants that are halfway up their legs when it's November. That kind of stuff.
SPEAKER 2: Super mom.
SPEAKER 1: Well, I'm doing my best. It really cuts into my stained glass making. Well, guys, we hope you enjoy today's so fresh and so clean episode with all of our incredible guests. I was taking notes. And I'm tackling all of my spring cleaning this weekend or at least making a list for my husband. I'll probably be out in the garden. Don't forget to check out our show notes at hgtv.com/podcast to learn more about all of our guests today and the products mentioned. And as usual, if you love today's episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to rate and review HGTV Obsessed. I read every single review. And I'd copy them down in my gratitude journal. Don't forget to follow HGTV Obsessed wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode. And I will see you guys next Thursday for our episode all about spring gardening.
[MUSIC PLAYING]